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by Friedrich von Matthisson (1761 - 1831)
Translation © by Laura Prichard

Wenn ich einst das Ziel errungen habe
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Our translations:  CAT DUT ENG FRE
Wenn ich einst das Ziel errungen habe,
In den Lichtgefilden jener Welt,
Heil! der Thräne dann an meinem Grabe,
Die auf hingestreute Rosen fällt.

Sehnsuchtsvoll, mit hoher Ahnungswonne,
Ruhig, wie der mondbeglänzte Hain,
Lächelnd, wie beim Niedergang die Sonne,
Harr' ich, göttliche Vollendung, dein!

Eil', o eile mich empor zu flügeln,
Wo sich unter mir die Welten drehn,
Wo im Lebensquell sich Palmen spiegeln,
Wo die Liebenden sich wiedersehn!

Sklavenketten sind der Erde Leiden;
Oefters, ach! zerreißt sie nur der Tod!
Blumenkränzen gleichen ihre Freuden,
Die ein Westhauch zu entblättern droht!

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

•   F. Schubert 

F. Schubert sets stanzas 1-3

About the headline (FAQ)

View text with all available footnotes

Confirmed with Gedichte von Friedrich von Matthisson. Erster Theil. Tübingen, bei Cotta, 1811, page 66; and with Gedichte von Friedrich Matthisson. Mannheim in der neuen Hof- und akademischen Buchhandlung. 1787, pages 12-13.

First published in Poetische Blumenlese auf das Jahr 1786. Göttingen, bey Joh. Christian Dieterich, page 218, with an additional stanza between stanzas 1 and 2; see below.


Text Authorship:

  • by Friedrich von Matthisson (1761 - 1831), "Die Vollendung", written 1784-85, appears in Wanderjahre in Deutschland (1784-1787), first published 1785 [author's text checked 2 times against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

  • by August Friedrich Martin Klughardt (1847 - 1902), "Vollendung", op. 63 (Drei Lieder für 1 mittlere Singstimme mit Pianoforte) no. 1, published 1895 [ Dessau, Kahle's Verlag ], Leipzig, Hug & Co. [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Leopold Lenz (1803 - 1862), "Die Vollendung", op. 5 (Sieben Gesänge) no. 2, published 1829? [ bass and piano ], Munich; J. A. Sidler [sung text checked 1 time]
  • by Franz Anton Maurer (1777 - 1803), "Wenn ich einst das Ziel errungen" [ voice and piano ], from Drey Lieder, no. 3, München: In der Falterischen Musikhandlung [sung text not yet checked]
  • by (Johann) Albert Gottlieb Methfessel (1785 - 1869), "Die Vollendung ", published 1820, Rudolstadt, Commission der Hofbuchhandlung, in Liederkranz; Zweiter Heft, Sammlung von Gesängen & Liedern,  [sung text checked 1 time]
  • by Friedrich Wilhelm Rust (1739 - 1796), "Die Vollendung", published 1796 [ voice and piano ], from Oden und Lieder aus den besten deutschen Dichtern, Zweite Sammlung, no. 9, Leipzig: Bei Georg August Grieshammer [sung text checked 1 time]
  • by Franz Peter Schubert (1797 - 1828), "Vollendung", D 579A (1817?), published 1970, stanzas 1-3 [ voice and piano ], formerly catalogued as D. 989. Kassel, Bärenreiter-Verlag [sung text checked 1 time]
  • by Johann Xaver Sterkel (1750 - 1817), "Die Vollendung", 1796 [ voice and piano ], from Zwölf Lieder nach Gedichten von Matthisson, no. 6, Mannheim München Düsseldorf, Johann Michael Götz, No. 581 [sung text not yet checked]

Another version of this text exists in the database.

  • Go to the text. [ view differences ]

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

  • CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , copyright © 2017, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , "Voleinding", copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • ENG English (Laura Prichard) , copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Accomplissement", copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Peter Rastl [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 91

When one day I reach the end I seek
Language: English  after the German (Deutsch) 
When one day I reach the end I seek,
In the light-filled world beyond,
Hail, to the tears that fall onto my grave
Covered with roses!

Full of yearning, with great anticipation,
Calm, as the moonlit grove,
Smiling, as at the seeting sun,
I wait for, divine fulfillment, for you!

Hurry, oh hurry to lift me aloft on wings
Where underneath me worlds turn,
Where in the source of Life palms are mirrored,
Where lovers see each other once again.

Chains of slavery are the suffering of the earth,
Often, ah, most often they break only in death!
Floral wreaths are like your joy,
A western wind threatens strip them!

About the headline (FAQ)

View text with all available footnotes
Translation of title "Vollendung" = "Fulfillment"

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2016 by Laura Prichard, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
    Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

  • a text in German (Deutsch) by Friedrich von Matthisson (1761 - 1831), "Die Vollendung", written 1784-85, appears in Wanderjahre in Deutschland (1784-1787), first published 1785
    • Go to the text page.

 

This text was added to the website: 2016-04-10
Line count: 16
Word count: 110

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–Emily Ezust, Founder

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